There’s little question about it, the Lost City trek in Colombia is wonderful and worthwhile. It’s probably the greatest issues to do within the nation!
However is it secure? The brief reply is that the hike is mostly secure and the primary danger is twisting an ankle or one thing of that kind. I did the hike myself and had an excellent expertise.
With that stated, staying out of hazard was one in every of my foremost considerations earlier than going, as a result of Colombia doesn’t have an excellent security report and there’s nonetheless numerous guerilla violence within the nation.
On this weblog submit, I’ll deal with all of those worries and share some high suggestions for staying secure on the trek.
Security On The Trek: What To Know
• Violence
Colombia has a excessive crime price and vacationers aren’t proof against that, though the scenario has improved a bit lately.
In 2003, eight international tourists were kidnapped at gunpoint from the Misplaced Metropolis path by guerillas from the ELN group.
They have been lastly launched after being held hostage within the jungle for 101 days, however the path was closed for two years due to this incident.
The excellent news is that there haven’t been any extra kidnappings for the reason that path reopened in 2005. It’s had a superb security report for greater than 20 years now.
There’s additionally a military presence within the space, and the trek has develop into a serious supply of revenue for the locals, so disturbing vacationers could be unhealthy for everybody concerned.
With that in thoughts, I wasn’t too anxious about guerillas on the trek, and as soon as we bought into the jungle I ended serious about the entire thing fully.
The Misplaced Metropolis!
• Theft
I haven’t heard of anybody having issues stolen on the camps, however it’s a dorm model sleeping association, so simply be sensible.
Every camp may have about 20-40 folks sleeping in it each evening, and if you happen to lose something the trekking corporations received’t be liable.
• Path Situations
One of many foremost dangers on this hike is the terrain. It’s very rocky and muddy, and there are many alternatives to slide, journey, or fall.
With 4 days of steady mountain climbing in this type of surroundings, it could be very simple to twist your ankle sooner or later on the trek.
Our information informed us that occurs to folks fairly often. One hiker even broke an ankle, and one other was paralyzed after diving head first into shallow water.
One of many steepest sections of the path
Nonetheless, if you happen to’re cautious and watch your step, you’ll do positive. Don’t fear. Nobody in our group had any accidents, and not one of the different teams we talked to had any issues both.
Basically, the path is rarely steep sufficient to be harmful by way of enormous drops or something like that. You received’t be mountaineering with publicity or something.
That doesn’t imply there aren’t cliffs on the path, however they’re simply seen and simply averted.
All the river crossings have bridges now
• Meals Security
The scenario with meals and water security has improved so much, however sadly some folks nonetheless report getting sick on the Misplaced Metropolis trek.
The employees do a fairly good job with hygiene and meal preparation, but it surely’s onerous to maintain issues completely clear and secure once you’re working in a distant jungle camp.
We talked to a different hiker on the path they usually stated three members of their group bought very sick (with diarrhea and throwing up), and needed to be carried out on mules.
Fortunately that didn’t occur to anybody in our group, however if you wish to be additional secure, there are many locations to purchase bottled ingesting water alongside the path, or you may carry your individual water purification tablets.
To be truthful, all of the meals we ate was nice, and there was filtered ingesting water obtainable at each camp the place we stayed.
We had no points with illness on our trek, however the risk stays.
Drying our garments in one of many camps
An indigenous village we noticed alongside the best way
• Animals
The Sierra Nevada mountains are residence to many sorts of animals, together with jaguars, tapirs, and howler monkeys.
I’ve to say we have been unfortunate and didn’t see hardly any animals on our trek, however that doesn’t imply they aren’t on the market.
Watch out the place you step, particularly if you happen to go off the path or wander round outdoors the camp at evening. Give your boots a superb shake each morning.
It’s uncommon to see a venomous snake or spider on the trek, however not unthinkable, so take cheap precautions for that.
Vibrant inexperienced mountains
• Bugs
This can be a jungle hike, so naturally there are bugs. I didn’t discover them to be horrible.
There’s some danger of Yellow Fever or different illness from mosquitoes on this space, however circumstances of which might be uncommon. I’m not conscious of any vacationer contracting Yellow Fever right here. Simply know that it’s a risk.
You don’t want a YF vaccine to do the hike, and most of the people go with out it, though I used to be glad to have it simply in case. Nobody else in our group was vaccinated, and none of us had any points.
Undoubtedly carry some bug spray to make use of on daily basis whereas mountain climbing. Mosquitoes will attempt to chunk once you sit all the way down to relaxation or eat snacks.
At evening, the entire beds within the camps have mosquito nets to guard you when sleeping.
The beds are protected with mosquito nets
Extra Journey Guides
Thanks for wanting! I hope you have been helped by these security suggestions for visiting the Misplaced Metropolis in Colombia.
Don’t neglect to take a look at my complete guide for the Lost City trek earlier than you go!